India's DLF Universal
Gets Approval for IPO
by Shaleen Agrawal and C.R. Jayachandran
From The Wall Street Journal Online
May 09, 2007
DLF Universal Ltd. said India's capital-markets regulator has approved its plans for an initial public offering, paving the way for the listing of one of the country's largest real-estate companies by number of properties.
DLF had filed a draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in January and had said it will offer 175 million shares with a face value of two rupees (five U.S. cents) each.
"We will dilute 10.2% of our equity," said Ramesh Sanka, DLF's chief financial officer. He said other details of the IPO will be finalized after a meeting with the IPO's merchant bankers, without giving a time frame for the meeting.
"The size of the IPO should be around $2 billion for 10% of the company," S. Tulsian, a member of the National Stock Exchange said.
A booming economy and easing of rules to allow overseas companies in more industries are generating demand for developed real estate in the country.
The flagship company of the DLF Group had first filed a draft prospectus for a 202 million-share IPO with the regulator in May 2006, but it withdrew it in August following delays in getting approval from the regulator.
DLF, which is 99.5% owned by Chairman K.P. Singh and his family, had then said it would refile the prospectus at a later date after updating it with business developments and the latest financial details.
The company had said it plans to raise the money for building residential apartments, office complexes, shopping malls and hotels across the country, and also to use a part of the proceeds to repay its loans.
Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. and DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd. will be the global coordinators and lead managers for the issue.
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